The Supporting Male Characters Who Died Alone All Those Years Later

In a corner of the palace, the night was cool as water. Meng Linglong sat quietly by the window, recalling the discussions of the guards during the day about the Princess Consort and the newborn little prince. Her heart was tangled with unspoken complexity.

At first, Meng Linglong resented He Dongchen’s coldness so much that she even sliced her own hand to demand an explanation. Later, He Dongchen didn’t come to see her for a long time, only letting heavily guarded soldiers stand by. Meng Linglong began deceiving herself again, convincing herself that he was pretending to be indifferent to protect her from the people of Chen, confusing them.

Over a year had passed. No matter how she struggled, even once fasting for 6 days and almost starving herself to death, He Dongchen didn’t appear, not even secretly.

Looking at the courtyard growing colder day by day, and the servants more and more perfunctory, Meng Linglong could no longer deceive herself. She even suspected whether He Dongchen already knew about her and Xuan Yuanhao, knew that she had willingly climbed the city wall back then, so he was so ruthless and showed no mercy.

A cold wind blew in from outside the window, causing Meng Linglong to shiver. She hugged herself and stared foolishly at the bright moon in the sky.

Mid-Autumn Festival was just half a month away. She wondered where Xuan Yuanhao was…

Meng Linglong’s longing turned into illness. Just then, a dark shadow flashed past the eaves in front, heading straight towards her. Startled, Meng Linglong immediately realized what was happening and made way, welcoming the figure into the room.

The shadow swiftly slipped through the window and, in a low voice, said urgently, “The capital will be relocated in 5 days. You find a way to disrupt the procession, preferably by dealing with the Princess Consort and that brat. The Emperor will send someone to assist you.”

Upon hearing the word ‘Emperor,’ Meng Linglong was overwhelmed with excitement and tears welled up in her eyes. She hurriedly asked, “How is he? Is he still safe?”

The shadow nervously glanced outside the window, unwilling to waste time on useless words, and said only, “How does the Crown Prince of Chao treat you?”

Meng Linglong paused, squeezing out a few words, “Naturally, he treats me well.”

The shadow looked around cautiously, not doubting Meng Linglong’s words. Upon hearing them, he relaxed. Indeed, as rumored, the Crown Prince of Chao cared deeply about Meng Linglong. Keeping a precious beauty hidden away in his golden chamber meant she wasn’t just a useless waste.

On the day they attacked the city, Meng Linglong had solemnly climbed the city wall, swearing that the Crown Prince of Chao would retreat for her sake. They delayed their withdrawal and took a gamble, but the result was clear; they lost the bet.

Meng Linglong was shot through the heart by the Crown Prince of Chao’s arrow, barely escaping with her life.

They hurriedly escorted the Emperor to safety, suffering heavy losses with most of their troops. For the past year, they had been hiding and evading, constantly on edge.

Thinking this over, the shadow became uneasy again and asked, “Does the Crown Prince of Chao truly care about you?”

If he did, risking their lives to save her during their operations would be a leverage for the future. If he didn’t, life and death were fated, and they would have to go with the flow.

Meng Linglong, feeling humiliated and angry, couldn’t help raising her voice, “Of course He Dongchen cares about me!”

How could she say to Xuan Yuanhao’s men that He Dongchen no longer cared for her!

“Alright, take this. Let us know once it’s done,” said the shadow dubiously, handing Meng Linglong a signal flare.

“Who’s talking inside?” came the voice of a guard outside, footsteps approaching.

Without another word, the shadow immediately jumped out of the window and disappeared into the night with the message.

Meng Linglong felt lost for a moment, tucked the signal flare into her sleeve, and went outside to deal with the guard. “I was reading and accidentally spoke aloud.”

The guard glanced through the crack in the door, saw a book on the desk fluttering in the wind from outside, and said nothing, turning to leave.

Thinking she had successfully deceived them, Meng Linglong relaxed. She thought of the imminent reunion with Xuan Yuanhao, and her heart surged with determination and anticipation.

The guard walked a distance away, glanced back at the door where a faint, excited shadow could still be seen inside. She sneered and continued forward, exiting the courtyard straight for the Grand Hall where the Crown Prince’s office was located.

Five days later, the capital would be relocated, and most of the troops from the southern capital city would head north to Hangcheng. They had been busy for a month now, everyone acting in haste with swift steps.

The guard waited outside for a while, then quickly entered the room and faithfully recounted every word of the conversation between Meng Linglong and the shadow.

He Dongchen thought to himself, “Finally, they came.”

Xuan Yuanhao had been shrinking back for over a year, but now it was finally time to act.

He had been impatiently waiting for this moment.

“Strengthen the guards around the Princess Consort’s side, everything else remains as usual.”

“Yes.”

***

Five days later, He Dongchen, accompanied by his wife and child, along with his subordinates, headed north. The 300,000 strong army split into two groups; one leading the way, the other guarding and escorting from behind.

The people of Nandu City bid farewell at the city gates spontaneously, each gaze sincere, and some even shed tears on the spot, creating a touching scene.

He Dongchen couldn’t help but sigh as he watched. No wonder Xuan Yuanhao couldn’t resist acting sooner. If they had delayed any longer, the people might have forgotten about Chen altogether.

Mu Jingyuan sat in the carriage, holding her child and wiping tears. People from the shelter had come to say goodbye just now, saying some tearful words.

“Ya ya ya.” A chubby hand patted Mu Jingyuan’s chin, big watery eyes looking innocent and clueless.

Mu Jingyuan smiled gently, holding onto his small hand, cooing softly.

Amidst this warmth between mother and son, He Dongchen lifted the curtain and boarded the carriage. He commanded outwardly, “Let’s depart!”

“Yes!” came a strong and resolute response from outside. The carriage started moving, hooves clattering and wheels rolling, while the farewell cries of the people grew louder.

Mu Jingyuan handed the child to He Dongchen, lifted the curtain, and watched as the sincere faces of the people grew smaller. The gates of the southern capital city became shorter and finally turned into a tiny black dot before disappearing from sight.

She sighed, “I wonder when we’ll be able to return. My father is still at the academy, and I’ll be alone here.”

He Dongchen comforted her, “Hangcheng isn’t far from here. Once the canal is open next year, it’ll only take 2 or 3 days to travel back and forth. We can return anytime.”

Mu Jingyuan felt somewhat comforted by this. Suddenly, she remembered something and asked in confusion, “What about the large eagle? Why haven’t I seen it?”

The eagle had been with them almost every step of the way this past year, even standing guard outside their door while they slept. Its sudden absence puzzled Mu Jingyuan.

She lifted the curtain and looked up at the sky, but there was no trace of it. She found it strange.

He Dongchen replied, “It’s behind us. I have other arrangements for it.”

Mu Jingyuan understood immediately that it must be related to something significant and didn’t press further.

Due to the immense size of the convoy and the many noble families and their belongings, progress was slow. After several days of traversing through mountains, they couldn’t reach the relay station that day and had to camp in the mountains.

Mu Jingyuan looked at the brightly lit camp, sensing an impending storm. She felt uneasy, dismissed the nursemaid, and held the child close to her chest.

Just then, there was a sudden commotion up ahead, shouts and clashes of weapons. Mu Jingyuan quickly lifted the curtain and saw that Ming Yang and her soldiers, along with thousands of soldiers, had surrounded the carriage.

“Princess Consort, rest assured, everything is under control,” Ming Yang reassured.

Mu Jingyuan breathed a sigh of relief and asked, “How is His Highness?”

“Everything is under control.”

As soon as the words fell, a sharp bird cry suddenly rang out ahead. Everyone looked over and saw a large bird circling in the sky, seemingly clutching someone in its talons!

Before anyone could clearly see, the bird landed and disappeared from sight.

Mu Jingyuan’s sharp eyes recognized that the person grabbed by the bird was Meng Linglong!